In the waning moments of last night’s Region IV Quarterfinal match there came a point in time when I had to realize that the game is lost and our season is over.  It is by far the most difficult moment for me as a coach.  It was then that I knew I had to make “the speech”.  The one speech I must make every season, the one I dislike the most because it is the speech that means it’s all over.  We have spent nearly every day together for the past five months and in the blink of an eye it came to an end.  I must say that in all honesty I was for the first time totally unprepared to make that speech last night because of my confidence in our ability to win that game.  I was lost for words.  As we all fought back tears, I struggled to find the right words that would make it all better.  I knew that I had to say something to make them smile, to make myself smile so that I could hide the tears that I had in my own eyes.  I took a deep breath, and I first apologized for letting my feelings show.  But then I looked them all in the eye and asked, did you ever think that back in January when we were running and sprinting the halls, when we were doing core strengths and pylometrics, that we would be where we are right now?  Everyone fell silent as they thought for a moment and I awaited their response.  The tears began to stop and most started to nod their heads as if to say no.  I looked them all in the eyes again and said, well, I did.  I believed in you all from day one. I believed in you when the pre-season poll picked us to finish last.   I believed that if we set realistic goals for our season and if we worked hard we would reach these goals, and if we reached these goals we would have a very good season and we would win a lot of games.  And that is exactly what we accomplished this year.  I told them to hold their heads high and be proud of what we have done.  I told the seniors to be proud of what they have experienced and accomplished throughout their career and to relish in the fact that we all gave them a senior year to remember!  I finished by telling them that I love them all and that I am very proud of them and that I am proud to have been their coach.  I then ordered them to their feet and said lets do this one more time.  We all gathered together in a circle and put our hands on top of one another as we have done at the start of every half, the end of every match, and at the conclusion of every practice.  When I ask them the three questions that have become our slogan, our battle cry for the team and for our season.  What have we got? Attitude! What do we give? Effort!  Why do we do it?  Pride! 1, 2, 3, Trojans!

     And with that it was done.  Another season completed, and it was a season to remember.  As we started to go our separate ways we all exchanged hugs and smiles.  One of the girls came up to me with tears in her eyes.  She was obviously overcome by her own emotions, and as she came up to me with outstretched arms she blurted “I love you coach!”  She hugged me so tight I could barely breathe. 

     That, my friends is just another reason why I coach.

In my eight years of coaching Tunstall Soccer I have never seen such poor judgment as what was displayed by our administration in their decision to cancel last night's match with Magna Vista.  No one in our administration made an effort to inspect the field prior to cancelling the match.  The shower had stopped, no thunder or lightening was observed, and the skies had cleared.  Kick off was still 1 hour and fifteen minutes away when the call was made to Magna Vista.  The bus carrying the girl’s soccer team was practically in our driveway when they got the call to turn around.  I was not consulted about this decision.  I personally walked the entire field after the shower to assess the conditions.  During the past ten years I have coached hundreds of soccer matches all over the state of Virginia and parts of North Carolina under all kinds of weather and field conditions and I can truefully say that our field was in good to very good playing condition.  This match should have been played!  If anyone should have been consulted about field conditions, it should have been me.  It is my responsibility as head coach to protect our field and most importantly, to protect our players.  I will not make a decision that would jeopardize either. Why wasn't I consulted?  This is what I am paid to do.  Why was baseball and softball allowed to play?  Were their respective coaches consulted?  Do I not deserve the same respect?  With the exception of Cary Wright of George Washington High School, there is NO ONE in Danville or Pittsylvania County that has coached more High School soccer matches than me.  I think I have a pretty good idea of when a field is playable or not.  Our administration is fortunate to have this kind of experience on its staff and not utilizing this experience is in my opinion a mistake. 

 All I have ever wanted for Tunstall soccer was respect for our exceptional student athletes and respect for the sport we love.  To one day build a program that would equal the tradition and accomplishment that our baseball and softball teams have proudly enjoyed for years.  I have tried to do this through a winning tradition of hard work and respect for ourselves, our opponents, and most important, pride and respect for our school.  Shouldn't we deserve the same?

Coach Parrish